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Mr. Hann
л Руса
Cr
тр
Fik Kololi ope
SECRETARY OF STATE'S BRIEFING FOR LOBBY: CORRESPONDENTS
9 MAY 1984 ON HONG KONG
17 MAY 1984
?
Q.
A.
Elections in the interim period?
ESTRY
kum Taken
7 Cunl
Yes it is one of the things that has not developed in
HK as it has done in most other parts of the world for which
we have been responsible for a variety of reasons, not least
for some time because of some anxiety as to whether that
would be the right road to go down in the context of the
Chinese position and some anxiety as to the manageability
of it in what has been a very rapidly changing and growing
community. But I made plain in my HK statement that we
thought it would be right for HK to move towards an
increasingly representative pattern of government. That
includes either direct elections or indirect elections
because they tend to have a system and approach which favours
the idea of the emergence of one tier of elected leaders from
elections at the lower level. I am not sure how far the
are
proposal9€xtending the regional board system throughout the
Colony has now got. It is under consideration but not yet
been carried through. It is planned to come into effect during 1985/86. It is important to understand that detailed
arrangements of that kind are very much undertaken by the HKG
in consultation with their own Legislative Council and we and
they are reflecting the very point that you are making: the
need to build a more pervasive, representative, pattern of government ahead of the expiry of the lease in 1997. But precise tempo/pattern will be decided by HKG on the spot.
the Chinese in favour of
Q. Are these regional boards a moves towards democracy?
A.
They have not responded adversely to this which is
encouraging because the more one can create a broadly based,
HK based, indigenous structure of government which will enable
the election or selection to this indirect process to take
place, then the more firmly based will be the special HK nature of the special administrative region which will emerge after 1997.
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